Identifying the Primary Sources of Franchise Development Deals

Franchise Update Media released its 2026 Annual Franchise Development Report.

We have been researching franchise lead generation and franchise recruitment processes for more than a decade. An annual in-depth online survey queries franchise development professionals about a number of issues related to their lead generation and recruitment strategies. The results are presented each year in the Annual Franchise Development Report (AFDR).

The AFDR report is a valuable resource that can provide crucial insights into franchise development, lead generation, and recruitment best practices. It’s the kind of information that can help brands assess what they are doing right and what needs improvement.

The project seeks to identify what’s new and innovative in franchise lead generation, recognize the methods and approaches yielding the best results, and gain insights into franchisors’ perspectives on current and future business performance.

Survey participants were franchisors who completed an in-depth questionnaire online. Responses were aggregated and analyzed to produce a detailed view into the recruitment and development practices, budgets, spending allocations, and strategies of a wide cross-section of franchisors. The data, along with accompanying commentary and analysis, provided the basis for the 2026 AFDR.

The in-depth report draws on insights from dozens of organizations that are actively expanding their franchise systems. Carefully researched and data-rich, it highlights the latest trends and sheds light on how brands are generating leads and closing franchise sales today. The AFDR reflects input from companies representing tens of thousands of franchise units across dozens of industry categories.

Franchise Update Media creates this report annually and shares its findings with franchise development teams to give them an edge in their lead generation and recruitment efforts.

Delivering Deals

In the most recent AFDR article, we looked at the primary sources from which franchises are getting their leads. While it is instructive to identify the starting points where frandev teams receive initial contacts, the latest AFDR also analyzed the sources from which franchises then turn those leads into deals.

Survey respondents said digital advertising (44 percent) and brokers (43 percent) were the top sources of the deals they received, followed by their franchise opportunity websites (33 percent). With the digital side being such a big part of franchise development, we asked those surveyed about their main sources for both leads and deals through digital advertising. Respondents indicated there were four primary sources of the digital deals they received – franchise portals (37 percent), pay-per-click on search engines and social media advertising (33 percent each), and search engine optimization (29 percent).

The AFDR broke down the responses to these questions by general business category. Eighty percent of franchises in the retail food industry said their deals come through digital advertising, which was nearly twice as much as the next two sectors. Brokers (led by 36 percent among service brands) and franchise opportunity sites (31 percent food franchisees) were responsible for the next highest number of deals.

When looking at the digital deals franchises receive, the biggest number is 70 percent from social media advertising for retail food franchises. That number is more than twice the amount of any other source for other franchise industries. These other segments all received 29 percent of their digital deals through other sources: social media advertising (food franchises), pay-per-click on search engines (retail/non-food), and franchise portals (service).

When analyzing deals by franchise investment level, digital advertising was generally the most popular. The outlier was with franchises from $25,000 to $50,000, of which 85 percent responded with franchise opportunity sites. In digital advertising, the five major investment level categories all responded between 28 and 42 percent.

Digital deals by investment level were fairly balanced among four primary sources: franchise portals, pay-per-click on search engines, social media advertising, and search engine optimization.

Finally, the AFDR looked at the digital deals received based on the size of the franchise. Pay-per-click on search engines got the highest overall response, including 45 percent from franchises with 2,501 to 5,000. Other top sources included franchise portals (38 percent of franchises with 501 to 1,000 units) and social media advertising (33 percent of franchises that have yet to open a unit.)

For more information about the 2026 AFDR and how you can purchase the report, please scan the QR code below or click afdr/franchiseupdate.com.